Stringed musical instrument improvements

ABSTRACT

A guitar in which the fretboard extends rearwardly of the neck across a portion of the top of the guitar body and is secured to the top wall of the body at only two locations to thus allow maximum utilization of the body top wall as an amplification surface increasing amplification surface area up to 33 percent greater than that of conventional guitars. Additionally, the amplification surface of the guitar body at the treble side is made greater than that of the bass side without giving the body an obvious nonsymmetrical appearance and achieved by arranging the guitar nut, frets, bridge and body front and rear walls at an angle of 97*, with the longitudinal centerline of the guitar neck as measured clockwise from the centerline. The guitar neck assembly is provided with concave fluted surfaces along its top and sides intermediate succeeding frets to diminish the obstruction met by the guitarist when fingering the guitar strings during playing.

- United States Patent I [72] Inventor Raymond M. Veres 1145 E. 35th St., Brooklyn, N.Y. l 1210 21 Appl. No. 871,234

[22] Filed Oct. 22, 1969 Division of Ser. No. 689,154, Dec. 8, 1967, Patent No. 3,481,238. [45] Patented Feb. 23, 197] [54] STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT IMPROVEMENTS 2 Claims, 10 Drawing Figs. [52] US. Cl 84/291 [51] Int. Cl Gl0d 3/00 [50] Field of Search 84/267, 291, 314, 275 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 652,353 6/1900 Edgren 84/267 798,869 9/ I905 Brandt 84/291 1,890,861 12/1932 Overton 84/267 2,204,150 6/1940 Quattrociocche 2,793,556 5/1957 Maccaferri Primary Examiner-Richard B. Wilkinson Assistant Examiner-Lawrence R. Franklin Attorney-Watson, Leavenworth and Kelton ABSTRACT: A guitar in which the fretboard extends rearwardly of the neck across a portion of the top of the guitar body and is secured to the top wall of the body at only two 10- cations to thus allow maximum utilization of the body top wall as an amplification surface increasing amplification surface area up to 33 percent greater than that of conventional guitars. Additionally, the amplification surface of the guitar body at the treble side is made greater than that of the bass side without giving the body an obvious nonsymmetrical appearance and achieved by arranging the guitar nut, frets, bridge and body front and rear walls at an angle of 97, with the longitudinal centerline of the guitar neck as measured clockwise from the centerline. The guitar neck assembly is provided with concave fluted surfaces along its top and sides intermediate succeeding frets to diminish the obstruction met by the guitarist when fingering the guitar strings during playmg.

PATENTEI] mam SHEET 2 OF 2 STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT IMPROVEMENTS This is a division of application Ser. No. 689,154 filed Dec. 8,1967, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,481,238.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention is concerned with the construction of stringed musical instruments especially guitars.

The construction of stringed instruments, particularly that of the guitar, as known in the prior art indicates that much effort has been directed to improving instrument construction in order to produce better and more varied ranges of musical sounds. Recognition of certain shortcomings of known guitar construction is evident in the patented art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 523,079 describes a guitar wherein the sounding box or guitar body has a considerably larger bass portion than treble portion. The purpose of so forming the guitar' body is to produce bass notes of improved quality or timbre. On the other hand, the guitar as a whole has an unsightly appearance resulting from enlarging in obvious manner the guitar body to one side of the centerline of the guitar neck. other U.S. Patents describing enlarged bass side instrument bodies include U.S. Pats. Nos. 1,684,467 and 2,204,150. But again, the instruments described in these patents, while perhaps having improved tonal character, are unattractive in appearance and cumbersome to hold and play.

Another problem recognized in the prior art as exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,816,469 and 3,091,150, is the difficulty with which certain stringed instruments must be played by reason of the types of neck constructions which can be used. For example, fingering of the instrument is encumbered by the flat upper surface of the neck which surface minimizes the distance in which the player can manipulate his fingers to tense selected strings against the frets. Inability to apply proper finger pressure or application of this pressure at a location too far removed from the first can cause chattering of the strings with consequent poor clarity of tone when the strings are plucked. U.S. Pat. No. 2,816,469 partly solves this problem by sloping the upper neck surface of a guitar downwardly in the direction of the treble or fine strings. This construction thus allows certain of the treble strings to be tensed in a more pronounced manner, thus insuring firm contact of same with a selected fret and production of the intended tone, but the bass strings are less amenable to forceful tensing by reason of the limited space in which the player's fingers may move to apply the tensing force. Then too, the sloping surface does not eliminate the obstruction presented to the players hand by the side margins of the neck. The side margins especially as considered with respect to players with small hands, cause discomforture to the player, render it difficult for him to hold the guitar neck and make it most difficult if not impossible to use all fingers to finger the strings at the same time, which condition if met, allows playing complex chords not usually played on conventional guitars. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,091,150 the neck of the guitar has a parabolic lower surface intended to conform generally with the contour of the guitar playersleft hand when he is grasping same. This form of neck does contribute to comfortable holding of the guitar and does increase to some extent the finger length the player may effectively utilize for playing. On the other hand, the side margins of the neck once again comprise obstructions preventing maximum finger articulation for playing a maximum number of chords. The latter is most pronounced as it applies to using the thumb effectively for depressing the outermost bass string.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is concerned with improvements in the construction of a guitar to produce improved tonal qualities and natural amplification of the music played with the instrument, render it easier and more comfortable to play and enhance its appearance although it embodies structure for achieving the foregoing, which if incorporated in an instrument of conventional construction would present an obvious unsightly appearance.

In accordance with the invention, enhancement of amplification and tibre of both bass and treble tones produced by the instrument when played is achieved by the manner the fretboard of the guitar of the present invention is secured to the guitar body, this being done in such way as to make up to a 33 percent greater amplification surface available for that purpose than would be found in a conventional guitar of comparable size. Instead of being in full surface-to-surface contact with the top wall of the guitar body, the rear section of the fretboard, i.e., from the 12 fret aft, is spaced along the major portion of its length a distance above the top wall being secured to the latter at only two locations. In this manner the guitar body top wall surface lying beneath the fretboard extension is not rigidized in the manner of conventional acoustic guitars and instead is free to vibrate and be utilized as a tonal amplification surface. The fretboard extension can be provided with reinforcement in the form of longitudinally extending metal strips embedded in the extension, the metal strips serving to reinforce the structure for preventing fracture of the fretboard extension and also functioning as sound conductors to transmit sound to the top of the guitar body. 7

According to another feature of the invention, the guitar body is enlarged at the right hand or treble side to give its top and bottom walls an area of about 10 percent greater than that of the left hand or bass side. This measurable increase in the amplification surface of the guitar produces improved sound amplification and timbre or quality of treble tones when the guitar is played. The increase in the treble amplification surface is achieved at no cost to the appearance of the guitar body which while actually larger at the right hand side than the left side, retains substantially the appearance of symmetry relative to the centerline of the guitar neck assembly. This semblance of symmetry and balanced body appearance is provided by slanting various transversely directed elements and edge surfaces of the guitar structure relative to the centerline of the neck assembly at an angle of greater than when measured clockwise from the centerline, the preferred angle being 97". Thus the nut, frets, bridge and body front and rear walls are all angled relative to the neck assembly centerline. The slanting arrangement also promotes better fingering of the strings with the left hand since in the natural lay" of the fingers in playing position, the fingers engage the strings at points equispaced from the frets. Similarly the sweep of the right hand across the strings when plucking or strumming same occurs along a line parallel to the bridge providing better tonal quality during playing.

According to a further feature of the invention, the neck assembly of the guitar of the present invention is designed such as to reduce the problem of playing the guitar, especially the problem of the player properly fingering all of the guitar strings. This is provided by giving the neck fretboard assembly a fluted configuration along its upper and side surfaces, the flutes preferably being in the form of concave depressions. In this manner the player has ample room to depress the instrument strings with the fingers of his left hand to a greater degree than possible with conventional instruments. This additional space for depressing the strings enables them to be tensed to a greater degree and thus be maintained in firm contact with the frets to preclude chattering. Likewise, the ar rangement of fluting along the sides of the neck assembly adds to the comfort with which the player may grasp the guitar and also enables him to utilize his fingers to a greater degree than heretofore possible for playing complex chords. The fluting at the sides of the neck assembly comprises vertically disposed concave grooves extending between the successive fret locations. The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

A fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention will be had from'the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an improved guitar constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention and having an enlarged amplification surface in the body thereof at the treble side of the instrument.

' FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view as taken along the centerline A-A of the instrument shown in FIG. 1, some parts being shown in full. 7

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the fretboard rear section showing the manner in which it is secured to the guitar body top wall so as to allow the underlying top wall surface to be used as an amplification surface the scale being greater than that used in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary vertical central sectional view as taken along the line 8-8 in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the body part of a conventional I acoustic guitar of substantially equal planar body area with that of the guitar shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the conventional guitar being illustrated to show with clarity the area thereof which is unavailable for amplification purposes.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary plan view of the neck of the guitar of the present invention depicting the points of contact along I which the fingers of the left hand lay in a line parallel with the frets, the advantage of which will appear later in the description.

FIG. 7 is a partial side elevational view of the neck of the guitar of the present invention showing the manner in which the upper surface of the neck assembly is fluted to facilitate more positive depression of the instrument strings.

FIG. 8 is a transverse sectional view thru the neck of a conventional guitar showing the manner in which the index finger of the players left hand is employed to depress certain of the strings against a fret and the obstruction met by the finger when engagingthe side margin of the neck assembly.

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8 except as applied to the guitar of the present invention showing the manner in which the side fluting of the neck assembly provides better access to the players index finger enabling him to span or bar all the strings with one finger.

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9 except it shows the manner in which the player may employ his left hand thumb to finger the outemiost bass strings in the course of playing.

Throughout the description like reference numerals are used to denote like parts in the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention is concerned with improvements in stringed musical instruments being applicable in its broadest aspects to the construction of the banjo, mandolin, ukulele and the instruments of the violin family. These improvements are especially applicable to, and will be'described herein in representative form, as embodied in the construction of a guitar.

The guitar 10 illustrated in FIGS. l-4 has a generally balanced, symmetrical appearance although as will appear from reading the description, the right hand side of the guitar body is in fact nonsymmetrical being made substantially larger than the left hand side. The guitar includes a hollow body structure which in a conventional manner has generally flat, relatively wide coextensive top and bottom walls 14 and 16 connected together at their periphery by an encircling sidewall 18 extending normal to the plane of walls 14 and 16, the sidewall 18 while usually a continuous element being understood as including relatively straight frontwall and rear wall parts 20, 21 respectively. Connected with the body structure and extending forwardly therefrom is a neck assembly 22 frets 28 embedded in the fretboard. The total number of frets on the fretboard generally totals nineteen and are designated in the art by numbers 1 through 19 from the nut end aft to the sound hole 52, the 12th fret usually being located at the juncture of the neck assembly and body. The frontal orforward end of the neck piece is somewhat enlarged and as shown in FIG. 2 is inclined downwardly as at 30 serving as structure for receiving tuning pegs 32 to which one end of the guitar string-a 3444 are connected, the strings transiting a course over the top of nut 23 in the usual manner. The neck piece 24 enlarges at the rear thereof as at 46 and extends downwardly alongside the front wall part 20 of the body 12, being secured to the front wall in known manner, a suitable bracing element 48 also being provided behind the front wall part 20. A bridge member 50 is connected to the top wall 14 of the guitar body serving in the customary manner as an anchorage for receiving the other ends of the guitar strings 34-44. The top wall 14 is provided with the usual sound hole 52 which is defined by a sound hole ring 53 fixedly secured to the top wall and providing structure to which the terminal part of the fretboard rear section 27 is secured in the manner as will be described now.

The quality of the sound that can be produced with a stringed musical instrument depends, among other things, upon the available area of sound producing medium which, in the guitar, is comprised essentially of the top wall 14 of the body structure and to a lesser degree the bottom wall I6. Any reduction in the effective available amplification area of these walls thus reduces or diminishes the amplitude and timbre of the sound which can be produced. In conventional guitars the fretboard rear section, which is generally that part of the fretboard extending rearwardly from the 12th fret, is secured in full surface-to-surface contact with the guitar body top wall. This has the effect of rigidizing both that part of the top wall covered by the fretboard extension and the top wall areas adjacent thereto and eliminates them as a sound producing 7 structure. In conventional guitars the reduction of amplification area of the top wall can amount to as much as 33 percent of the total top wall surface. An illustration of the latter can be considered by referring to the conventional guitar shown in FIG. 5. This guitar has a body plan area of substantially 208 sq. in., a forward section width of l 1% inches taken across the flat at L, a waist width of 9%inch'es taken across the flat at M and a rear section width of 14%taken across the flat at N.

As a further consideration it should be noted that the same dimensions as taken at L', M and N'and the same plan area apply to the guitar 10 of the present invention with the overall body length of each being 19% inches, But as will appear, the available or active sound producing area of guitar 150 is considerably less than that of guitar 10. It was determined in the conventional guitar 150 that its available top wall sound producing area was only that below the long and short dashed line shown in FIG. 5 and amounted to but 67.6 percent of the top wall area. Thus nearly 33 percent of the top wall area was prevented from vibrating and usefully producing sound by reason of the fretboard extension being secured directly thereto.

In the guitar of the present invention, the fretboard reansection 27 is not secured to the top wall in full surface-to-surface contact therewith but instead bridges that structure and thus allows for maximum utilization of the top wall surface for sound production purposes. This is effected as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 by slotting the underface of the fretboard extension as at 58 thereby spacing the fretboard rear section 27 along a major portion of its length a distance above the top wall surface and providing it with a relatively narrow depending support foot 60 at the terminal end which is secured to the top wall 14 by adhesive or other fastening means. It is important in connection with support foot 60 that it confront and be secured to the guitar body at a location directly forward of the forward end of sound hole 52 and that it be located directly below the 19th fret 28d Support foot 60 of course extends the full width of the fretboard. The fretboard rear section also is secured to the guitar body top wall 14 adjacent the front edge of the guitar as at 62. Thus the underface of the fretboard rear section between the 14th and 18th frets is out of contact with the top wall 14 so that the underlying top wall area is free to vibrate and produce sound. Thus it wiil be seen that substantially the entire 208 in. sq. surface of the top wall 14 of guitar 10, less the part underlying support foot 60, is free to function as an amplification surface.

An important aspect of the manner in which the fretboard rear section 27 is secured to the top wall is that it allows for optimum sound conduction from the vibrating strings to the top wall amplification surface consonant with the constructional feature of providing maximum possible amplification area by spacing the rear section a distance above said surface instead of securing it as in conventional instruments. This mode of sound conduction can be understood with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. If a selected string is depressed between the 14th fret 28b (FIG. 4) and the 15th fret 28c'and plucked, vibrations therefrom will be conducted through fret 28b into fretboard rear section 27 from whence the vibrations are conducted into the amplification surface of top wall 14 at a location below the 12th fret 28a, i.e., where the fretboard joins that surface at 62 and at support foot 60 below the 19th fret 28d. Vibrations also enter and are conducted to the top wall through bridge member 50. If a sound conducting path were not provided by way of support foot 60, as for example, if the fretboard rear extension was merely cantilevered at a point below the 12th fret, a deficiency in amplitude and timbre of sound would occur because of the diminution of conduction area in confrontation with the top wall 14.

Slotting the fretboard rear section 27 between the 14th and 18th frets of necessity minimizes the thickness of that structure, reducing its strength and increasing the possibility of structural failure. To offset this effect, the fretboard rear section 27 is provided with a number of reinforcing members 66 which extend longitudinally the full length of the rear section and forwardly a distance beyond the juncture of the neck assembly and body structure as shown in FIG. 3. The reinforcing members are preferably provided in the form of steel strips. It is further advantageous to provide additional slots in the underside of the fretboard rear section to receive the reinforcing member 66 with the members being inset flush with the lower surface of the rear section. In addition to reinforcing the structure of the fretboard rear section 27, the reinforcing members 66 act as sound conductors to transmit the vibration produced by the plucking of the strings to the top wall of the guitar body and thus contribute to improved overall tonal quality of the guitar.

Another feature of the present invention provides that the guitar has improved treble tonal characteristics. As will be noted in FIG. 1, the right-hand side or the treble side of the guitar body structure 12 is enlarged by making the top and bottom walls 14, 16 of about 10 percent greater area than at the left-hand or bass side. Thus the effective amplification area of the top and bottom walls 14, 16 underlying the treble or fine strings 34, 36, 38 is greater than the wall amplification area associated with the bass or course strings 40, 42, 44 and hence improved sound amplification, timbre and clarity of treble tones' is possible. The increase in the treble resonance area of the top and bottom walls l4, 16 is shown in FIG. 1 as the area D bounded by the long and short dashed lines on the right side periphery of the guitar body. In the guitar 10, the treble side area has for parameters given earlier an area of substantially 109 sq. in. On the other hand, the bass side area is only 98 sq. in. In making the treble side area of the guitar body greater than the bass side area, the instrument retains its appearance of symmetry relative to centerline A-A. As is apparent in FIG. 1, in enlarging the treble side area as compared with the bass side area, a forward planar portion H of the body is removed and a planar portion D added, the difference between the two areas H and D accounting for additional 11 sq. in. area surface of the treble side over the bass side. This is achieved by slanting the various transversely directed elements and edges of the guitar at an angle a of greater than when measured clockwise from the centerline. Thus the front wall part 20 and rear wall part 21 of the guitar body, nut 23, the frets 28 and the bridge member 50 are all angled relative to centerline A-A, the preferred angle being when a =97, an arrangement which gives the guitar body structure a balanced appearance and making it pleasing of sight. The foregoing is made possible by the slanting arrangement of the transversely arranged elements and surfaces as just described. This slanting arrangement also serves an additional purpose in that it contributes to easier and more natural fingering of the guitar strings by the player. The foregoing is applicable to both fingering of the respective strings with the left hand when forming chords as well as plucking and/or strumming the strings with the fingers of the right hand. As applicable to fingering the strings with the left hand, those skilled in the art will understand by referring to FIG. 6 that the players left hand when grasping the neck of the guitar with the fingers girding same produces a natural lay" of the fingers wherein the points of engagement X of the fingers of the hand on the respective strings is along a line of action B'-B' which is angled with respect to the instrument centerline. The line of action B'-B it will be noted, is substantially parallel with the slant of the frets 28 facilitating faster and easier fingering of the strings. The same is true of the line of action P-P (FIG. 1) along which the fingers of the right hand sweep when the strings are plucked or strummed during playing. The natural sweep of the right hand causes the fingers to engage successively the strings 3444 at the points X which are equispaced from bridge member 50. In this manner, the tonal quality or timbre of each string when plucked or strummed along a line of action P-P will produce a balanced tonal relationship with the respective strings ranging from sharply brilliant" for a line of action P-P close to bridge 50 to softly mellow for a line of action adjacent the rear end of sound hole 52.

In conventional instruments where the bridge member 50 is not slanted, the fingers when executing a plucking or strumming motion at the beginning of the finger sweep and following the path of a natural sweep strike the bass strings at greater distances from the bridge member than the distance from the bridge member at which they strike the fine or treble strings at the end of the sweep. Because of the latter condition, the fingers which strike the bass strings produce softer mellow tones, whereas, the fingers which strike the treble strings produce sharper brilliant tones producing an overall unbalanced quality or timbre of the notes being played.

A further feature of the guitar of the present invention is that it is constructed to be more easily played by the player, particularly as to the facility with which he can finger the guitar with his left hand when playing chords. This is provided by giving the neck assembly 22 a fluted configuration along its upper and side surfaces, the flutes preferably being in the form of concave depressions. As can be best noted in FIGS. 1 and 2, the upper surface of the fretboard 26 is provided with semicircular recesses 70 which extend a distance below the plane E-E (FIG. 7) defined by the upper face of the fretboard. In prior art guitars, the distance between the top of the fret and the upper neck surface generally is not greater than one-sixteenth of an inch. Thus, with the prior art guitar, the player must finger the various strings at locations immediately adjacent the frets in order to properly tense the strings between the frets and the bridge. If he fingers the'strings at a point midway between two frets instead of adjacent the selected fret, it is possible for the string to chatter when the string is plucked because of insufficient contact between the string and the selected fret. In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 7, by recessing or fluting the upper surface of the fretboard between adjacent frets 28, the player can easily apply positive forceful pressure at almost any location between succeeding frets against the strings to depress them and maintain them in firm contact against the frets. Furthermore, less fingertip pressure is required to produce clearer sound tones and thus less dea, i-* manding effort required of and physical discomfort offered to the player. By providing recesses or flutes 76 along the side edges of the neck assembly, the player is more able to readily finger length of the average player is generally insufficient to enable him to fully span the fretboard and depress the outermost bass string 84. However, by providing the neck side edge surface with concave recesses 76 between adjacent frets there is produced better finger access, as shown in FIG. 9. Thus the players index finger 80 can be properly articulated to bar across all strings and fully depress same against the frets. By fluting the side edges of the neck assembly, it is also possible for the player to usethe thumb of his left hand to a greater extent than possible with conventionally constructed guitars. This can be seen with reference to FIG. 10, which illustrates in dashed lines the side edge 90 of a conventional guitar neck which presents a barrier to the hand so that the thumb 92 cannot be articulated to depress the outboard bass string 94. However, the fluted recesses 76 of a guitar constructed according to the present invention allow the thumb greater access across the neck assembly as shown in full lines and it can be now articulated sufficiently to be used to depress the outermost bass string 94. In effect, the fiuting arrangement at the sides enables the player to utilize all of the fingers on his left hand for fingering the strings and more complex chords can be played with the guitar.

It will thus be seen that thejobject's set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceeding description, are efficientlyattained and since certain changes may be made in the above construction and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. In a stringed musical instrument having a sounding body including essentially flat, parallel top and bottom walls and an encircling sidewall including front and rear wall parts, a neck extending forwardly from said body, the top wall of said body having a sounding hole therein, a fretboard superposed on said neck and adapted for receiving a plurality of frets and having a rear section extending a distance across the top wall of said body and terminating at said sounding hole, a bridge supported at the rear of said sounding hole and strings connected with said bridge and extending forwardly to the frontmost part of said neck, the improvement wherein at least said top wall is enlarged at the treble side to the extent that it has substantially 10 percent greater area than the bass side, the enlarged treble side retaining an essentially symmetrical appearance with that of said bass side, said essentially symmetrical appearance resulting from arranging said frets, the front and rear wall parts of said sidewall and said bridge atan angle a of greater than 90 with the longitudinal centerline of said neck as measured clockwise from said centerline.

2. The improved musical instrument of claim 1 wherein 0: equals 97. 

1. In a stringed musical instrument having a sounding body including essentially flat, parallel top and bottom walls and an encircling sidewall including front and rear wall parts, a neck extending forwardly from said body, the top wall of said body having a sounding hole therein, a fretboard superposed on said neck and adapted for receiving a plurality of frets and having a rear section extending a distance across the top wall of said body and terminating at said sounding hole, a bridge supported at the rear of said sounding hole and strings connected with said bridge and extending forwardly to the frontmost part of said neck, the improvement wherein at least said top wall is enlarged at the treble side to the extent that it has substantially 10 percent greater area than the bass side, the enlarged treble side retaining an essentially symmetrical appearance with that of said bass side, said essentially symmetrical appearance resulting from arranging said frets, the front and rear wall parts of said sidewall and said bridge at an angle Alpha of greater than 90* with the longitudinal centerline of said neck as measured clockwise from said centerline.
 2. The improved musical instrument of claim 1 wherein Alpha equals 97*. 